Stumbo Supports Minimum Wage Increase

Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo is sponsoring legislation that would raise the state's minimum wage. House Bill 1 would raise the rate from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour over three years.

Stumbo says the increase is needed to keep wages in line with inflation, and would help struggling working-class families across the Commonwealth.

“There needs to be something done to help level the playing field for people who work for minimum wage. It needs to be raised, it’s not been raised since 2009, it’s been eroded obviously by inflation and cost-of-living, so, you’re gonna hear us talk about issues that deal with real ,live, working Kentucky families, and try to make their lives easier and better.” –Greg Stumbo

Republican Senate President Robert Stivers has indicated he would not support the plan.The bill will also incorporate language from Louisville Rep. Mary Lou Marzian. It would create pay equity between men and women. Currently, women in Kentucky earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns.

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Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers says he will support reinvestment in public education in the upcoming budget.

The Republican says he supports Gov. Steve Beshear’s commitment to funding education, but only if that funding addresses the needs of the system.

“I think we would be very much in conformity with the governor under my initial assumption that it strengthens education. If it doesn’t necessarily strengthen education, throwing money at it may not be the solution.” –Robert Stivers

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s data for the second quarter of 2013 shows that coal production dropped 1.3 percent statewide in that time period. There was a slight drop in both the Eastern and Western Kentucky coalfields, but Western Kentucky still produced slightly more coal—50.2 percent of the total production.

But the more dramatic drop is in employment. The data shows a six percent drop since the first quarter of the year. There are now about 12,300 coal miners employed in the state—the lowest since the state began keeping records in 1927.